“This project marks the next stage in the ATP’s transformation from 14
hectares of disused railway workshops into a world class technology and
business centre.” The new 43,500m2 media complex will be built on vacant land
and includes four television studios and a 12-storey office building. A new
public plaza will be created as part of the project, along with ground floor
retail shops and cafes.

A concept plan for the project was publicly exhibited in September and
October 2006 and issues raised in submissions led to a number of changes and
conditions:

A
proposed Communications
Tower has been
reduced in height from approximately 15 metres above the roof of the plant
room to 5 metres;

A
proposed landscaped open roof was not clearly defined and any future use
of the roof area as an outdoor terrace will require further planning
approval;

A
noise management plan will be put in place during construction and
operation of the facility to minimise any impacts.

Mr Sartor said he had also approved an Early Works Project Application
allowing the site to be excavated and archaeological investigations to take
place. “This is a landmark project for Redfern that will provide a major boost
to the local economy and employment opportunities.”

We must admit that while we ran a piece on the 15th
September 2006 letting people know about that the Chanel 7 concept plan
material was up on the Department of Planning’s website this was before we
discovered that this part of the Department of Planning website did not also
contain notices about public exhibitions of the plans. As a result we did not
know that this consultation was happening and as a result we missed alerting
people to the consultation. This highlights one of the problems with projects
being treated under part 3A of the EPA act that allow
planning control of state significant sites to be taken from local councils.
Notice of 3A consultations do not appear on the RWA website or the City of
Sydney website only at http://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/assessingdev/onexhibition.asp
and as most people will not even know that the Minister has called in a project,
it is possible for a project to go through “public” consultation with people living
close to it not even being aware of the project or the consultation! It reminds
us of the earth being destroyed by the Vogon Constructor fleet in the
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy because no one lodged an objection at the local
planning department in Alpha Centauri!

On Saturday 10th February the Minister
announced his approval of the CUB Concept Plans. The details of the CUB site
have been moved to the notices of Determination section of the DoP site at http://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/asp/ndetermination.asp.
The CUB announcement followed immediately upon the announcement of the Minister’s
approval for the development of East
Darling Harbour
and consequently received little coverage. Chippendale residents are still
trying to find out what has been approved as no documents were released with
the announcement on either the Department of Planning or Foster’s CUB websites.
The Fosters site shows that they have posted responses to submissions from
council, government departments and the community at http://www.cubproject.com.au/ResponseToSubmissions.html
but the documents will not open. As a result no one knows how Foster’s have
responded to any of the community concerns raised during the public exhibition.
We brought this to the attention of the Department of Planning a week ago but the
files have still not been fixed.

It is known that there have been some changes made since
exhibition as before Christmas Foster’s responded to concerns from the
Department of Planning’s Strategic Assessments branch about a number of issues.
Documents posted on http://www.cubproject.com.au/PreferredProjectPlans.html
show the department’s concerns only seem to be with the proposed Public Car
Park - Block 5, the gross floor area of Blocks 9 and 11 and building envelopes
along Old Kent Rd. Foster’s have now responded to theses concerns. Council has
approval the use of council land in the development as reported in Clover’s
eNews CUB Deed secures Public
Benefit where she states that the City had “secured commitment
to vital public benefits from Carlton
and United Breweries (CUB) site owners through our negotiations with them on
including some Council roads in their plans”.

In other Chippendale news the city has also placed a draft Chippendale Improvement
Plan “to improve local area traffic management, public domain, open
spaces and community facilities” on exhibition
until Tuesday 13th February. There have also been some
victories for Chippendale residents who have been fighting premises operating
without Council approval and issues connected to the operation of brothels. For
further details see Oasis and the duty-free store
in the Citygold building.

It is not just the 1000 plus representatives
from 50 groups from around the state that attended the Day of Protest about
planning decisions on 11th February 2007 (Libs urge 'open' development
planning and Despite
Frank objections, Debnam stays silent on ban) that are upset about government
planning decisions. The Local Government and Shires Association (LGSA), like
many peak organisations, have taken the opportunity in the lead up to the state
election to highlight some of the changes they would like to see in NSW planning
law. Concerned about the new 3A provisions, the LGSA has called for “the
establishment of an independent planning commission to
undertake the assessment of major development projects, engage with councils
and the community, and make recommendations to the Minister for Planning. The
legislation also should be changed to provide objective criteria for
determining when developments or sites are of state or regional significance”.
Further details see - Independent Planning Commission
Called for by Local Government. The LGSA has also called on candidates
standing for the 2007 State election to support a number of reforms to
significantly improve the transparency and accountability of the current planning
system in NSW. The changes would also streamline working arrangements between state
and local government. For further information see - Local Government
Seeks Election Commitments on Planning

The Draft RWA Affordable Housing Contributions Plan 2006 (pdf ~360kb)
was put on exhibition just before Christmas and we and many others did not have
a change to have a good look at it at the time. This draft document is about
the value of the levy to be charged to developers who develop within the state
significant area and not about what the RWA plans to create affordable housing.
Of major concern is that the RWA is only proposing a levy of 1.25% of the gross
cost of development. Yet the RWA has insisted on taking around 3% for
affordable housing out of the CUB site. A similar 3% figure is applicable for
affordable housing contributions on residential sites in Green Square. So the RWA, who have often
insisted that part of their role is to create affordable housing, is proposing less
than half the affordable housing levy from developments on land they
predominantly own than they have already negotiated to take from the CUB site!

By comparison in Pyrmont Ultimo 7% of the final total
dwelling stock is to be affordable housing and levies are supplemented by funds
from the Federal Government and a levy on the sale of government owned land.
NCOSS have pushed for many years for 10% affordable housing in new estates and
we understand this has been adopted as the level in South Australia. In many redevelopments
overseas where there is a high need for affordable housing, it can account for
10% to 35% of some re-developments.

One of the major problems is that the RWA have not
released their Affordable Housing Programme at the same time as their Draft Contributions
Plan. As a result the proposed 1.25% figure, which the RWA document admits is
low, is not supported by any evidence or by any details of what the RWA plans
to do to address the affordable housing needs of the area. REDWatch’s submission
on the Plan contends that, if the $15 million earmarked in the RWA
Contributions Plan to mitigate the problems caused by state main roads was paid
for by the NSW government, then the contribution towards affordable housing
could be significantly increased. Similarly, if the NSW Treasury paid for the
upgrade of Redfern Station rather than funds from the sale of government land, more
funds could be made available for affordable housing. Instead of a proper
discussion about affordable housing in Redfern Waterloo, a measly pre-emptive
figure of 1.25% is being proposed as the affordable housing development
contribution, presumably so the state government gets top dollar for its land from
developers and is able to minimise budget allocations from treasury to build Redfern
railway station.

RWA watchers may be interested to know that Sam Mostyn,
who is an RWA Board Member and Group Executive, Culture & Reputation at
IAG, has recently been appointed to the Board of Reconciliation Australia. The
details of the appointment can be found in the following Reconciliation
Australia Media Statement - Sam Mostyn Joins
Board of Reconciliation Australia

We have been advised that St Andrews
has officially withdrawn their application to use of part of the Redfern
Community Centre. The St Andrew’s proposal certainly produced a lively debate at
the community meetings St Andrew’s arranged to gauge reaction to their proposed
Redfern campus. St Andrew’s are to be congratulated for acting in accordance
with the concerns raised about their campus being located in the Council’s
Redfern Community Centre.

Unfortunately the Sun-Herald of 4th February
2007 saw local opposition as “a sad indictment on our community” and blamed the
people of Redfern for questioning the benefit of St Andrew’s Redfern Campus to
the local Aboriginal community, most of whom have directly suffered as a result of past well-intentioned plans of churches, schools and government. The Sun Herald
Editorial - Why our education system is fraying at edges
linked together a number of education stories that it ran that day. Among the
stories about which comment was made were some that might be of particular
interest to Redfern Waterloo: Schools tell kids: sorry,
we're full about public schools turning away children due to lack of space;
Police presence in
classrooms concerning the new police in schools programme which includes
Alexandria Park; and Private
school for Aborigines suffers Redfern setback about community opposition to
the St Andrew’s use of the Redfern Community Centre. The editorial concluded as follows:

”One of the few moves to reach out to strugglers in
any meaningful way has come from the private sector. The Sun-Herald reported
last year that Sydney's St Andrew's Cathedral School planned to set up an Aboriginal
only campus in Redfern. Now, sadly, those plans are in jeopardy due to
opposition from the Redfern community. The private school had hoped to open the
campus for the new school year, with individual children sponsored World
Vision-style. But after fiery community meetings, City of Sydney council has extended the development
consultation period, delaying the school's opening. Already 10 of the 13
submissions received have opposed the plan. What a sad indictment on our
community when even the most well-intentioned are thwarted in their attempt to
give everyone what they deserve - a decent education that will allow them to
grow into valued members of society. Perhaps it's time we all went back to
school. We might just learn some valuable lessons about mixing well with
others.”

The Indigenous Land Corporation will be holding an
informal ‘Open House’ to provide information on the proposed development of the
National Indigenous Development Centre at Redfern on Thursday March 1. Turn up
any time between 2:30 pm and 7:30 pm at the old Redfern Public School,
George Street,
Redfern to:

find
out more about what is being proposed;

review
the concept plan for the Centre;

have
a look at the site;

learn
about the proposed activities and facilities;

make
comments, ask questions, provide information;

find
out what other community consultation activities are planned, and how you
can be involved;

learn
about the proposed timing for the design and construction of the centre.

If you have any questions about the Open House event
please contact Stuart Waters at Twyford Consulting on Twyford@twyford.com.au or Phone: 1800
11 00 55. We will try and get more information about the current plans in our
next update.

REDWatch had to postpone its meeting last week to 14th
February 2007 at 6pm at the Factory Community Centre. The meeting will consider
draft questions for candidates and the paper on the changes REDWatch would like
to see as a result of the election debates and the possible change of Minister.

REDWatch has now set up a section on its website at http://www.redwatch.org.au/redw/elections/state2007/
for the State electorates of Marrickville and Heffron which cover the RWA area.
The website also has links to the electoral commission sites for Marrickville
and Heffron
where you can obtain information about the electorates and details of voting
patterns at the last election. The REDWatch sites currently cover some
background information as well as links to candidates and party’s websites. The
sites will also carry media release from candidates about issues that directly
relate to Redfern Waterloo. Following the REDWatch meeting on Wednesday 14th
February the site will also carry a background paper about the changes REDWatch
would like to see discussed during the election and taken up in future by the
Minister for Redfern Waterloo. The questions REDWatch is providing to
candidates will also be posted on the website following the 14th
February Meeting.

We were intrigued by a small article in the
Sun-Herald of 31st December 2006 Shot in the arm for inner
south that reported that Peter Holmes a Court had set up “forum of
community and business leaders to re-invigorate the inner southern suburbs”.
The article reports that a recent “invitation only” meeting included “local
business owners, developers as well as representatives of the Hillsong church
and the NSW Police”. We are still to identify any community representatives
other than local politicians who attended the meeting. The article said that the
forums will be held on a quarterly basis, the next one scheduled for March. We
have been trying to get information about the forum to share with our readers,
but so far without success. We are keen to hear from anyone who was invited to
attend the meeting and to learn of how the Redfern Waterloo non business community
was represented. REDWatch has been pushing for the last few years for a broad
based Community Council to provide a community reference point and to ensure
community input into the RWA. Such a council existed during the days of the
Redfern Waterloo Partnership project and was made up of service, business and
community representatives as well as local elected politicians. It was
suspended when the RWA was established.

It was good to see a strong turnout for the CarriageWorks
open day and in particular to see a large number of Eveleigh workers return to
see the changes and to reminisce about their days at Eveleigh. There appears to
be a strong desire for the Eveleigh Railway Heritage to be preserved in an
active way.

Geoff took the opportunity provided on the day to go
through the Eveleigh Paint Shop. This is one of two sites in the RWA Built
Environment Plan where recognised heritage structures do not have an existing
height restriction in the RWA Plan. In the case of the Paint Shop the existing
single storey brick building is zoned to be replaced by an up to 5 storey
building. The tin building to the north of the Brick Paint Shop is not listed
by the RWA as being significant and is zoned to be replaced with an up to 4
storey building. These building currently house part of the Railcorp heritage
carriage collection and Historical Electric Traction ( www.het.org.au ) work out of here on
restoring Railcorp owned carriages.

During the tour Geoff learnt that, like the occupants of
the Large Erecting Shop, the HET people have been told they can stay at
Eveleigh until 2008. He was assured that the building was in excellent repair
and that there was no reason that the building could not form part of an active
heritage rail centre if the government chose. Given the proximity to the main
rail line Geoff was surprised at the lack of noise from passing trains.

The other change we noticed at the CarriageWorks open day
was that the area to the east of the CarriageWorks has now been gated off to
stop access to the fan of tracks and the heritage items to the east of the
Paint Shop. Obviously before anything can be done with the Paint Shop the
carriages stored there will need to find a new home. The Rail Transport
Museum at Thirlmere is
not electrified so many of the carriages at the Paint Shop will need to go
elsewhere if they are to be run rather than just looked at.

In the last update we made mention of the new shuttle bus
being run by South Sydney Community Transport with support from the City of Sydney. The service was
successfully launched on Thursday 1st February 2007 and now runs 3
trips on Thursdays and Fridays linking Redfern, Waterloo
and Glebe public housing with Redfern Railway Station, RPA Hospital,
Broadway Shopping Centre and Glebe Library. Those attending the BBQ and launch
agreed that the service will provide a vital cross connection for those needing
to move across the suburbs rather than into the city. The Central magazine of
31 January picked up on the launch in The shuttle to keep Redfern
locals on the move. Details of the route and the timetable
for the new service can be found on the City of Sydney’s website at Village
to Village shuttle bus service - FREE every Thursday and Friday.

Mike Shreenan the Housing Communities Assistance Programme
(HCAP) is working to link together a number of different events under a common
community branding of “time 2 act”. The first two events that HCAP are
organising are the Matron Gardens Mosaic
Project which aims to encourage young people to participate in the
care of the Waterloo Green area and surrounding areas through the creation of
an artist-led community mural and this year’s
Photo Voice Project
which is an opportunity for residents of Waterloo and Redfern a chance to raise
their concerns and ideas about living and improving community life through the
use of photography.

Mike Shreenan
argues that “Time 2 Act is a proposed “umbrella”
initiative that will be used to market or brand projects which result from
interagency work within Redfern and Waterloo.
It will also be used to market HCAP initiatives, and local residents “owned”
initiatives. The key aim of this program will be to inspire people in the
community to change the way we do small everyday things. “If everyone made
small changes to the way we do things, it could make a big difference to quality
of life for the collective community”. The program will bring local
residents together with frontline workers, policy makers, volunteer groups, and
government and non-community sector services together. We then, through joint
forces, will reach effective problem-solving ideas. We shall do this in the interest of the local community and will be “user”
led. We believe in partnership working, and turning visions into action.” If
you would like more information on the proposal please contact Michael M Shreenan
at Housing Communities Assistance Program (HCAP) The Factory Community Centre 67
Raglan St Waterloo 2017 Ph: 8399 1011.

While on HCAP the latest edition of Redwater News, the newsletter of
public tenants in redfern Waterloo
can be downloaded from Redwater
News February 2007 (PDF 813Kb)

Police and Community Youth Clubs NSW will establish for
the first time a new PCYC Football Club based at Redfern. With the aim of
re-establishing pathways for children and young people in through sports, PCYC
has in the last two years built the largest network of futsal (indoor soccer)
competitions across New South Wales.
In 2007, PCYC is trying its hand at outdoor football reports the Central of
31st January 2007. The PCYC FC-South Sydney will be based at the Alexandria Park School
on Park Road, Alexandria, and will be operated in
conjunction with the South Sydney PCYC, with all players receiving membership
to the club as part of their registration. Further information can be found in
the Central of 31st January article Football lands in
Redfern.

“On the 3rd anniversary of the murder of TJ
Hickey and just over 2 years of the Mulrunji Doomadgee murder on Palm Island
ISJA and the Socialist Alliance are holding a public meeting to allow your
voice to be joined with others across Australia” reads the leaflet put
out for the Rally. The Rally is to be held on Wednesday 14th
February 2007. Gather at the fence line at 10:30 am corner George and Philips St Waterloo.
For more information contact Ray Jackson on 93180947 or Raul Bassi on
0403037376.

East Redfern
Pocket Parks Opening – Saturday 17th February 2007

The Lord Mayor is opening the three new pocket parks in East Redfern at Marriott Street Reserve, James Street Reserve
and Hansom Cab Place.
The celebrations have a heritage theme, with an historic hansom cab leading
those attending from park to park and traditional ice-cream and home-made
lemonade being served. The celebration will take the form of a progressive
party, the celebrations will begin in Marriott Street Reserve at 11am, and
continue in James Street Reserve and Hansom Cab Place, before concluding in
Young Lane with a free barbecue. For more information visit East Redfern Parks Community
Celebration.

The Redfern Oral History, a website project of Redfern
Residents for Reconciliation will be officially launched on Friday, 23 February
2007 from 5.30-7.00 pm at the Redfern Community Centre. For catering purposes
it is essential to RSVP to Deborah Wall by 16 February at deborahwll@yahoo.com.au

The RRR Oral History Project website which features
transcribed interviews of people including the late Fr Ted Kennedy, Aunty Joyce
Ingram, Aunty Ali Golding, Uncle Max, Col James, Mick Mundine and Roberta Sykes
can be found at www.redfernoralhistory.org
.

In the last update we drew people’s attention to the Draft
Homelessness Strategy. On the City of Sydney Home page it had the exhibition
extending only to 26th January 2007. This was an error and
submissions are open until 26th February. Some information on the
proposed strategy can be found in Clover’s eNews of 19 January City’s Draft Homelessness
Strategy or by visiting the Council website at Draft
Homelessness Strategy and downloading
the draft document.

Performance Space is one of the companies that will occupy
the new CarriageWorks theatre after 25 years in Cleveland Street Redfern. Their
new home and 2007 program will be launched by Her Excellency Professor Marie
Bashir on the weekend of February 24 & 25 with two free events. All
community members are welcome.

PRIMARY PRODUCERS:
Oyster Shucking Picnic Sat 24 Feb 2 – 4PM
You’re invited to join artists Sean Cordeiro and Claire Healy in the making of
their new sculptural work Primary Producers by attending a picnic to shuck and
eat oysters. The discarded oyster shells will be collected and transformed into
a sculptural installation to be exhibited at CarriageWorks from 8 – 31 March.
It references Aboriginal middens that were pilfered for their high lime
content and used in the mortar of colonial Australia. Primary Producers is
part installation, part site-specific action, drawing attention to the
foundations of contemporary Sydney.SINGING THE SPACE: A Housewarming Sun 25
Feb 6PM
A welcome to country... a sonic painting of our new home... a choral
housewarming.. Performance Space launches its home at CarriageWorks with a free
community event. A melodic feast to usher in new ways of seeing and being.Featured
performers will include Vic Simms, Marlene Cummins, The Leichhardt Espresso
Chorus, Annette Tesoriero, Amanda Stewart, Timothy Chung, The NSW Railway Band
and Brothablack, Singing the Space is a family event to call in a new era. We
hope you can join us. The website for the Performance Space is www.performancespace.com.au
.

Have your say – Summary of Current
Consultations

Below we have listed consultations currently open for
community input and provided a link for further information: